


Fate Works in Mysterious Ways

by Booked_Painter



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Denial, Denial of Feelings, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, My First Work in This Fandom, Red String of Fate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-22 06:16:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15575601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Booked_Painter/pseuds/Booked_Painter
Summary: All his life, Ryan has been able to see red strings that connected people. His mom had told him that they led to your soulmateBut there was one thing his mother never told him,What did a green string mean?





	Fate Works in Mysterious Ways

**Author's Note:**

> There's a lot of jumping from tense to tense, due to this having parts written days away from each other, but still,
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

For as long as Ryan could remember, he’d been able to see red strings that led from person to person. The first one he ever noticed was the one that connected his mother and father. Then, he saw one on his brother, leading far off into the distance. He went through school, examining and wondering where all the red strings on his friends would lead. Though, too much wondering did lead to him getting scolded by teachers. A lot.

He told his mom about it once, and she gave him a big kiss on the forehead as goodnight. Then, she spun him a story about a bright red string that leads you to your soulmate, to the one you’re destined to love forever, and to love you forever. That’s all he remembers before falling asleep.

So now he knew what the strings would lead to. He’d get uncomfortable when he’d see people making out in the hallways of his high school when their strings went completely different ways. He’d feel a small sense of pride when he sees a couple on the street, hands wrapped tightly and the red string tying it together. His ability gives him insight to the most useless piece of information, but arguably most important detail in a person’s life.

But there was one thing his abilities didn’t tell him.

What did a green string mean?

***

He’s never really told anyone about the string vision. He’s told his mom, his brother, maybe a few friends when he was drunk? Only one of those three actually believed him.

The only time he’d tell anyone else, namely friends, is when they were all drunk, and he remembers they all laughed at him and said he’s had too much for the night. Maybe he should’ve told them when they were sober. But at this point, he’s basically given up trying to tell anyone about it anymore. Well, directly at least.

God knows how many times he’s tried meddling with other people’s relationships. He’d be drinking beers on a roof one night, at some college party, and his buddy would be talking about this girl he met last night. He’d know; He brought her to their shared dorm. Now if only his roomie could remember that detail. So, he’d shake his head and tell him no, your love isn’t written in the stars or destined. He’d know; He saw two red strings lead out of their dorm that night.

Along with a lonely green one. Fuck you, Roland.

***

The internet only has so much information on things that are basically myths or legends. Sure there’s a constant stream of stuff like ghosts or demons (both of which he believes in wholeheartedly!) but barely any mention of soulmate stuff. It’s mostly just a lot of speculating and silly romance stories that he may or may not have gotten a bit too into.

Any and all research done on string theory has only ever led him to either actual string theory, or the red string part of the whole story. There’s absolutely nothing talking about a green string.

Although his research on strings of fate was in vain, his delve into the supernatural threw him onto a path he could never return from. He’d stay up until 1 AM reading on some Wikipedia article about a demon that inhabited a house and scared away all its inhabitants, of how leylines are the railroads of the spirit world, as well as how ghosts are entities made of energy. Other nights, he’d also be up at 1 AM, because he was too afraid to sleep after reading all of that.

He spent a few years shooting the breeze, keeping up with all the red strings in his neighborhood, helping produce a few small indie projects, working a few odd-jobs here and there to keep his strange lifestyle of researching alive. His film degree and peculiar interests certainly played a large role in getting him hired at Buzzfeed.

***

“Ah, fuck.” Ryan grimaces as he walks back towards Buzzfeed HQ. He’d only gone out to get a cup of coffee from the closest Starbucks, but the line there was longer than usual for some reason, and now he was jogging back as quickly as he could. With the sun beating down on him, he’s sweating bricks.

Rushing down the sidewalk, red strings of all sorts litter the ground. They’re everywhere, and he should be used to them by now. But he _still_ trips himself up because of his primitive lizard brain instincts acting up. The stumble sends him forwards, and in an attempt to save his overpriced coffee, lifts it into the air fast enough to jostle some out and spill onto a bit of his pants.

“I just washed these!” He complains to the red strings on the ground. He grumbles to himself, as he attempts to kick them and continues on his journey back to the safety of the air conditioned offices. Today was not going well, and he is _not_ in the mood for anymore bullshit the world has to throw at him.

***

He walks into the office with a relieved sigh, he didn’t take any longer than he usually would on a coffee run. As discreetly as he can, he sneaks back to his desk. Which isn’t that difficult seeing as that it’s currently break time and everyone else is probably doing the same. The thought is only punctuated as he watches from afar, Steven doing and over exaggerated sneak walk holding a bag of chips, before disappearing behind a wall.

He stifles a laugh after witnessing that, and takes a sip of his well-deserved coffee. That’s when he notices his hand. The _green string_ on his hand. He gulps down on the coffee (almost choking on it from shock) and pulls the cup away from his face. His eyes follow the path of the green string, from his pinky finger to criss-crossing between, under, and over other red strings on the floor. It was leading deeper into the office, in the direction of his desk.

His hands are clammy and suddenly he’s sweating even more than when he was outside. Is he hallucinating? For the short amount of time he’d been working here, the string use to always lead _outside_ the office. He suddenly feels like he’s at the top of a rollercoaster that just _won’t drop._

Because he’s the one in charge of the drop. He could go follow the path to his desk and find whoever it is at the other end of his destiny right now. Or he could stand here in the middle of everything, sweating like an idiot that just realized he left the oven on. _Ok_ , deep breaths. He has to calm down. His first impression _cannot_ be like this.

He stares at the ground, follows the green string, and tries his best not to look up towards the person he now knew for certain was by his desk. He had spotted them earlier, and is now pretending he never did.

Arriving at his desk, he sees the previously empty one next to him now has a few items strewn about. Alongside said items, he sees a guy. He was hunched over, arranging and rearranging them over and over again. Ryan watches him, entranced for much longer than a normal person would. Until, he finally clears his throat.

The other startles, before standing up straight and- _woah!_ This guy is much taller than Ryan. He’s adjusting his glasses then runs a hand through messy brown hair a little nervously. Ryan notices an intern pin on his shirt. There’s also a sheepish smile on his strangely soft face.

“Uh, hey there! I’m Shane. I guess we’re neighbors now!” He smiles, eyes crinkling, seemingly unbothered at all by the small sweaty man with stained pants in front of him. Then, almost as if it was an afterthought, he reaches his hand out to shake.

Ryan stares at the Shane, then to the offered hand. Right there on the pinky finger, is a bright green string. He can’t stop the biggest grin in the world from appearing on his own face as he grips Shane’s hand. “Well neighbor, I’m Ryan. It’s nice to meet you.”

He _has_ to get this guy hired.

***

By day, they mostly work in silence next to each other. Sometimes he’d ask Shane if something he’s editing looks okay. Other times, Shane would ask him if the music is too loud in this one scene. Ryan’s determination to get to know Shane better eventually pays off, as they’re put in videos together. Most notably, the Test Friends series.

After a while, banter starts to come easily for them. Especially after Ryan finds out Shane is the most skeptical man on Earth. Oftentimes he’d just leave half of his headphones off just to hear Shane’s incomprehensible mumbling or immediately catch whenever he gets called.

Every interaction between them just rolls off the tongue, and adds to the ever growing pile of inside jokes between them. It fills Ryan with electricity (and empties him of air), whenever they talk to each other. He wonders if Shane feels the same, even without knowing they’re literally connected by fate.

“Hey, you wanna like, get something to eat?” Ryan asks him one day, stretching his arms up above his head. Something in his back cracks like a gunshot in the silence that follows his question. Fuck, maybe he shouldn’t have said that.

Shane doesn’t respond, continuing to type something before finally, fully taking his headphones off. He smiles softly at Ryan, “Sure, man.”

***

He’s staring too intently at an email on his laptop. Every time he blinks, he hopes the words in front of him would change. But they only ever get blurry, and not for very long either. A tap on his shoulder finally shakes him out of the weird funk.

“Hey, you alright there lil guy?” It’s Shane, placing a cup of coffee onto his own desk and offering another to Ryan. He must’ve just gotten back. “It seems like you’re losing a staring contest with that screen.”

Ryan rubs at his eyes and groans loudly, accepting the offering with relief. “It’s just, I need to find a new co-host for, um, you know Unsolved right?”

“Do I- yeah I do!” Shane’s eyes are bright, and he seems surprised that Ryan had to ask. His face shifts into one of mock offense, but the laughter that soon follows betrays him. That lifts his mood a little bit.

“Well, if I don’t find a new co-host soon, they said they’re gonna have to cancel it,” Ryan explains, frustration seeping into his voice. Shane makes a sympathetic noise, and sits down at his desk, still facing Ryan. He opens his mouth to say something, but stops midway. Ryan squints at the strange action.

“What?”

Then, Ryan glances at the green string connecting him to Shane. He takes a deep breath, _fuck it._

“Do _you_ wanna be my co-host?”

Shane’s eyes go wide, and they’re shining brighter than a pair of headlights. And Ryan is just, a deer enraptured by their warm glow. Shane proceeds to laugh, “Of course!”

***

Buzzfeed Unsolved has been a huge hit ever since Shane came aboard, and Ryan can’t believe his eyes. They’re always bickering, (mostly due to the Supernatural part of the whole thing) with Shane being the skeptic he is. Science says aliens are real, why not demons? It’s the charm of their show now.

Sure, it definitely gets annoying sometimes. Especially when he’s _sure_ a ghost whispered in the recording and Shane just laughs it off. Probably just the wind, my ass. But that just fuels his determination. He is going to prove the existence of ghosts right in the face of Shane Alexander Madej. And maybe the rest of the world while he’s at it.

Wait, when did he start thinking of Shane before the rest of the world? It’s strange how close they’ve grown. It had only been about a year and a few months since they’ve known each other. He stares at the green string wrapped around his pinky.

“Hey, Ryan! Congrats!” He looks up from his thoughts, and comes face to face with Jen. She’s got a huge grin and is pumping her fists up and down in the air. Following close behind, is Steven also whooping and waving his hands around. “We should go celebrate!”

“Oh! Thanks guys,” He responds, a shy smile working its way onto his face. He feels a bit out in the open with the other two being so vocal. “I’m glad your projects are, uh, doing great too.”

They fall into casual conversation, standing around the break room together and laughing. Though, he continues to steal glances back at his desk to try and get a glimpse of Shane. He really couldn’t have asked for a better partner in crime.

His eyes meet Shane’s, and Shane does a little wave over his monitor that he reciprocates. That’s when it really hits him. The green string connected him to his fated best friend. And that realization makes his face feel warm.

***

Ghost hunting goes well for them. Well, for a while. Just how dark and oppressive the environments are is already a nightmare. But the addition of paranormal activity sends Ryan into overdrive. Meanwhile, Shane marvels at the historic architecture and gets annoyed at how dusty everything is.

He’s jealous of how in the present Shane is, how his thoughts simply go to what he can see. On the other end, Ryan’s mind jumps to what he can’t see. The worst part is, what he _can _see, Shane can’t.__

 

 

They’re walking through an abandoned mansion that supposedly has demons in it. Ryan walks down a longer and darker than normal hallway, aiming his flashlight ahead of him. At the end of it there’s an old old painting of some fancy looking lady. He laughs to himself, and appreciates it for a bit.

“Hey, Shane? Come check this shit out,” He calls out behind him, pointing his flashlight back. He hears a distant “okay,” and footsteps approaching.

The green string between them hangs in the air, occasionally bobbing up and down to Shane’s walking. Ryan smiles at its reassuring presence. But that’s when he sees it move, unnaturally.

He watches as it picks up in the middle, as if someone is _there _and _playing _with the string between them. He feels the room temperature drop to freezing, and he gets goosebumps. Whatever it is, it’s playing with his fate, his best friend.____

 

But then, the string abruptly drops back down to its original position, and out from the darkness comes Shane. “Hey, Ryan.”

Ryan nervously swallows the lump in his throat, blinking back tears he didn’t realize were already starting to form. Okay, deep breaths. Shane is right in front of him and he’s fine. They’re fine.

“Ry?”

“Yeah?” He finally snaps out of it, and shakes his head. Shane tilts his head, in a concerned manner, and Ryan sighs. He can’t tell him about the demon he definitely saw fondling their string. “The fucking, curtain just moved on its own.”

Shane’s smile glints in the flashlight, “Pfft, it was just the wind Ryan.”

“We are indoors and-and the fucking windows are all closed! How-how did the wind do this?” He points to the nearby curtain that was luckily there. Okay, he was lying and the footage will definitely prove him wrong. But he definitely witnessed something.

“Alright, let’s see. Demon! If you’re really here, do whatever you just did, again! Prove yourself to my friend Ryan Bergara, here. Because he doesn’t believe in you!” Shane shouts down the halls, and Ryan’s wheezing. There’s a smile on his face, but his cheeks hurt and it feels forced.

Shane notices, and ceases his taunting. “You wanna get out of here?”

His voice is quiet, and his eyes are soft. Ryan just nods, he feels a little too rattled to say anything without his voice cracking. Shane nods back, and slings his arm around his shoulder, pulling Ryan close. The action surprises him, and in an attempt to stop himself from freaking out, he buries himself into Shane’s side.

“Let’s go lil guy.”

***

They’re hanging out at Ryan’s place, a few nights after their demon mansion adventure. Shane’s on the couch, his laptop open in front of him, but he’s actually using his phone. Ryan watches from the kitchen top. The microwave is on and he’s currently just waiting on the popcorn.

A loud chuckle erupts from Shane, and Ryan turns to him. “Remember when you saw that curtain move?”

“Yeah..?”

“Well,” another chuckle, “one of the editors just sent me a clip. Apparently, your gopro recorded you accidentally kicking it.”

“What?!” Ryan half-shouts. That was both lucky for him, seeing as the whole curtain thing was a lie, but also surprising. He does not remember feeling his leg hit anything.

“I can’t believe it either! You’re the demon you were so afraid of.” Shane’s laughing it up on his couch, slapping the cushions next to him. Ryan can only simmer in the kitchen, and before he can retort, the microwave beeps.

Ryan grabs the popcorn and angrily plops down next to Shane. A smug grin is still plastered on the taller man’s face. He punches Shane in the shoulder. “Just wait ‘til we get into the EVP sessions.”

“Oooh, we’ll see. Nothing that is, because demons aren’t real.” Shane is still smiling, and Ryan just wants to slap it off of that huge face of his.

“Fuck you.”

“Another win for the Shaniacs,” He announces proudly, raising his index finger into the air. All the antics make Ryan laugh, and Shane does as well, swinging his arm over the back of the couch, fingers brushing Ryan’s shoulders.

Warmth immediately spreads from there to the rest of Ryan’s body, but he tries to push the feeling away. “So, whatcha wanna watch, big guy?”

“Let’s mix it up a bit! There was this new show Teej was talking about yesterday,” Shane explains, and they end up watching it. It’s a light-hearted series about a detective on the trail of a serial killer, who shockingly, turns out to be his best friend. It’s a fun watch.

By the end of the third episode, they’re both asleep on the couch, arms wrapped around each other.

 

***

 

The current airing season of True Crime goes well. They’re still on set after recording a post-mortem. The episode was on a cold case about the disappearance of a young boy in ‘88. It was a sad episode and the questions mostly reflected that. He will never admit it, but Shane was pretty good at bringing the mood back up with the hotdog thing.

“Welp,” Shane suddenly exclaims, “You’ve convinced me, it was aliens.”

That causes Ryan to laugh, “It’s the best ending! Aliens can’t be all that bad.”

“So we’re in a consensus. Aliens? Real.”

Silence falls over them again. The crew is milling around, cleaning things and getting ready to finish up for the day. They watch the others in silence. Neither of them have mentioned the weekend, but they both know it’s something they should talk about. Or maybe that’s just Ryan’s anxious brain talking.

Waking up tangled together in his apartment, on his couch. Getting up and just getting cleaned up and ready for the day as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Shane made breakfast that morning, and it was amazing. It was, oddly domestic, but comfortable. Familiar.

“Do you actually want to grab a drink after this?” Shane asks him, glancing over.

Instead of looking back, Ryan looks down at the green string between them. They’re best friends. It’s what the string whispers to him. He can’t let them be anything more than that. No matter how nice it might’ve been. He can’t ruin this thing the world has given to him. What fate had led him to.

He swallows the lump in his throat, it feels like a pit in his stomach.

“I think I’ve actually got something else to do. Sorry.”

 

***

He doesn’t know when he started feeling differently about Shane. It might’ve been from the moment they met, or maybe when the spark of conversation between them first ignited. Whenever it had started, he’s only realized its presence now. And boy, was it a weight on his mind.

“Ryan!”

He blinks out of the funk he’s in, and turns to the source of the call. That being, Shane. Who was right next to him, as always.

“You’ve been staring at the screen again,” He explains, trying to justify his shout. “What’s stressing you out?”

His face is scrunched in both a concerned and amused manner. Probably from watching Ryan’s groggy reaction. He proceeds to stare at Shane for a little while, taking him in. He doesn’t know why those soft features bring him in so deep, but they do.

“Ryan, focus.” Shane snaps his fingers in front of his face a few times. Then, he does a peace sign. “How many fingers do I have up?”

“Whatever,” Ryan responds, rubbing his eyes, then his temples, then pushing his hair back. Resting his head in his hands, “It’s just…”

He looks back to his screen, what was he doing again? Word is open, _oh_ , he was trying to write a script.“Writer’s block.”

“You sure as hell are sleepy,” Shane comments. And he isn’t wrong. Ryan has been losing sleep recently, because of reasons he doesn’t want to tell Shane. Those reasons being the fact that there is no longer a source of warmth when he tries to sleep (one he can’t stop thinking about in the dead of night).

“What tipped you off, Sherlock?” He asks, turning back towards his screen. Reading where he left off, he should be writing about the theories related to the case. Except he can barely register words let alone research theories. So instead, he just saves the file and closes it.

Shane pats Ryan’s back, and he’s too tired to even react to the contact. “You should get some rest. We’re gonna be going somewhere later this week, aren’t we?”

Oh shit, they are gonna go somewhere. They’re gonna go on location and stay the night and that’s even more sleep off of Ryan’s plate. He groans loudly and drops his head onto the desk. “I might just take you up on that.”

Shane scoffs, “Well, you should.”

A weak laugh erupts from Ryan, and he heads home early that day. But his sleeping doesn’t get any better.

 

***

Ryan watches as TJ packs away cameras and leaves him and Shane to sleep in another decrepit house full of unruly spirits. They’re sleeping in the master bedroom of a cottage no one has slept in for an actual decade or two. At least they won’t be sleeping on the floor.

The bed they’re in is barely big enough for the both of them, and a pillow wall in between as usual. Through it, he can already hear Shane snoring away. Checking his phone again, it’s still 1 AM. He finally turns it off and places it at the nightstand. He should try sleeping.

But instead, his eyes drift towards his hand. The green string goes right through the pillows in between them. It mocks him in the darkness. He’s seen so many people with red strings, falling in love, getting married, living perfectly happy together.

He should be perfectly happy just like this, being best friends. It’s how it should be.

He watches the string move, and feels Shane shift on the other side of the pillow wall. Then, a loud thump echoes through the room.

“Shane?” He calls out. His answer is a muffled grunt. “You alright?”

“No.” is the response he gets back. He gets up in bed, and looks over the pillow wall. Shane is on the floor, rubbing his head.

Ryan immediately gets to breaking the wall down and getting over to Shane’s side of the bed, which he now realizes is a lot smaller than his side. “Oh shit, are you okay?”

“Uhhhh, yeah, I think,” He responds, getting up and sitting on the bed again. He yawns. “Go back to sleep, Ry.”

“First of all, I wasn’t asleep,” He begins, then glances back at the pillows, “Second, let’s move those pillows to the edge of your side. So you don’t fall again.”

Shane seems too sleepy to give a proper response, but he does start grabbing pillows and placing them on his other side. He helps him out, until there are no longer any pillows between them. While Ryan’s brain short circuits, Shane has already gotten back to sleep. And he’s facing Ryan’s side. Fuck.

He lies down on his back. He debates sleeping facing away from Shane, but then he’d end up being some sort of little spoon. He turns to face Shane, and stares at his sleeping face. God, he’s gonna have to cut so many hours of sleep from the recording. None of this is gonna get out.

But, Shane’s snoring is reassuring, it blocks out any other noise. He can feel his breath, and watch his chest rise and fall. He does eventually fall asleep, and when morning comes, it’s the most rested he’s felt all week.

 

***

A strange air permeates around them. It’s one Ryan is absolutely terrified of. It’s one of questioning, asking if something’s changed between them. And so, he finds a solution. That is, to avoid Shane whenever possible.

Sure, it wasn’t a good plan by any means. He’s still working on it. But whenever he’s around Shane, he does act as naturally as possible. They still banter, they still joke. But it isn’t the same.

He knows he can’t avoid Shane forever. He can already tell Shane knows something’s up. And they still have Unsolved to take care of, to record. And speaking of, they should be recording a new post-mortem.

“Taking it to ‘Gramtown, here’s a question from ‘dxmxn.denissa’ asking, ‘Hey Ryan, or should I say, Ricky Goldsworth? You’ve been really mean to Shane these past few post-mortems, what’s going on?’ Yeah Ryan, what’s wrong?”

The question sets off the alarms in his head. He tries to hide his nerves behind a chuckle, but it sounds a little off.

“Really?” He asks, trying to look surprised and amused at the same time. It seems to fool Shane, as he also smiles.

But then he _actually_ punches Ryan’s shoulder, “Don’t, ‘really’ me! You’ve been pretty wound up these past few weeks.”

“I guess I have been pretty frazzled, but I don’t think I’ve been any more mean to you than usual.” He turns to face the camera dramatically, and then dropping all emotion from his voice, “But I don’t know about Ricky.”

Everyone seems placated with that answer, and the rest of the post-mortem goes like usual. Shane finishes up this week’s hotdog festival, and the words, “CUT” ring out through the set. As everyone else starts placing cameras and lights away, Ryan tries to get out as soon as possible and go back to avoiding Shane.

But the other man had, well, other plans. Shane grabs onto the crook of Ryan’s elbow, and pulls him aside.

“We have to talk.”

Ryan nervously smiles, “What about, bro?”

“Did… you just call me _bro_?” Shane asks, his tone incredulous and his face contorted into a strange expression.

“Yeah, what’s wrong?”

“I-“ He stops himself, and stares him straight in the eyes. Ryan’s nervous smile is still there, and he’s clearly uncomfortable. Shane seems to take some sort of underlying hint. “You know what? Never mind.”

As Ryan watches Shane walk away, he feels as though he just watched the hope in Shane’s bright eyes, flicker and dim.

***

The rest of the week passes by like a blur, but he’s sure the days were worse than usual. Mostly because Shane has taken to avoiding him as well. He isn’t even trying to talk anymore. And it’s all his fault. So now he’s on his phone, waiting for a text that he’s never gonna get.

His eyes hover back to the green string on his hand. Best friends. Well, not anymore, and it’s all because he had to make it all weird and have feelings. Feelings that are directed at the one person fate wouldn't let him have.

He throws his phone across the couch in frustration. Stupid feelings, stupid Shane being so damn, cute. But then, almost immediately his phone starts vibrating. He scrambles across the couch, and grabs it. He’s full of hope, until he realizes it’s just Jen.

Well, he shouldn’t say that about her. He reads the text, and oh, sweet. Jen’s inviting him out to drink! He could, really use a drink right about now. Maybe more than a few drinks. He texts her a quick confirmation before grabbing a jacket and heading out the door.

He gets another text with the bar’s address. While he waits for his Uber, he asks Jen who's gonna be there. The response is a quick “idk” and he shrugs. Whatever, he just wants to get as drunk as possible as quickly as possible.

***

When he gets there, things immediately get blurry. He’s dragged into a booth, and he’s downing shots as if they’re his lifeblood. Which is true for the most part. The atmosphere is full of laughter, and it’s probably the giddiest he’s felt all month.

"Ryan! You look gooooooood!" Jen giggles next to him, "I haven't seen you smile all week."

That makes him drop his smile, "I fucked up, Jen," He says, accidentally letting his feelings slip out.

"Whaaaaaaaat?! Tell me, tell meee," She begs, definitely drunk. So, hopefully she won't remember this conversation tomorrow. Maybe he won't either if he's lucky.

"I called Shane 'bro' and he's been ignoring me," He explains, "I don't think we're friends anymore."

"Ryan, are you drunk?" She asks, not realizing how serious he is. Ryan's own buzzed mind takes offense to the question.

"I'm not drunk!" He snaps at her, frustrated. "I'm just... an idiot."

 

The moment those words leave his mouth, is also when he spots Shane.

He’d just walked into the bar, but it looks like he’d already been drinking somewhere else from the smile on his face. Something someone says to him makes him laugh, and his eyes really crinkle. He hasn’t seen that all week, and he realizes just how much he misses Shane.

He stops laughing, starts looking around, and their eyes lock. _FUCK_. He immediately starts doing the arithmetic in his head and plans his escape. But he spills his drink on himself while doing so. Placing the now empty glass on the table, he begins his exit.

From his position in the booth, he ducks down under the table and crawls his way out. He gets kicked in the face a few times, but the adrenaline in his veins keeps him going. Once freed, he spots Shane trying to part crowds of people to get to him, but gets caught. It’s the perfect opportunity to bolt out of the bar.

A string of apologies follows his shoving, and now he’s sprinting down the darkened street. He doesn’t know where he’s going, only that he has to get away. Being drunk sends the world spinning, and tears are starting to blur his vision even further. Soon, he gets too tired to keep moving. He has no idea where he is, until-

 

a bright pair of headlights appear next to him-

 

and Ryan is just, a deer enraptured by them.

 

 

 

 

 

“ _RYAN!_ ”

His jacket is grabbed, and he’s pulled backwards- into an embrace. He feels a car race past barely inches away from him. The embrace tightens and they stay, until the wind dies down.

“Holy fucking _shit_ , Ryan, fuck, are you alright? You could’ve died!” It’s Shane, and he’s trying to get out of the hug to check on Ryan. But instead, he wraps his arms around Shane’s torso and starts crying into his shirt. This is why he didn’t want to see him.

“Jesus- _Shane_ , I- I’m so so sorry, I’m _so_ sorry-” he continues sobbing and mumbling into Shane’s chest. The tears just keep coming, but Shane just pulls him closer. He hums softly, slowly moving them further away from the main road.

Eventually, Shane stops under a streetlight. He leans on it, while Ryan continues to grip his shirt and sniffle softly. “Hey, it’s alright.”

“It’s-” sniffle, “ _not_! I-I was, av-avoiding you. And- and being, _mean_!”

“I- okay. Yeah, it kinda sucked,” he agrees, wrapping his right arm around Ryan, while his left goes into his hair. “I’m sorry too.”

He doesn’t bother lifting his face from Shane’s shirt. “Why?”

“‘Cause I’m a huge idiot who has the biggest awkward crush on his best friend. I should’ve realized you wouldn’t be into it, and you didn’t want to let me down hard.”

“What?” He pulls himself away, to look straight into Shane’s eyes.

“Look, Ry. I love you, so goddamn much! And you’re my best friend in the world. But you’re not interested and we can forget I ever said that,” He continues, letting go of Ryan. “We can go back to how Unsolved always was.”

“No!” He blurts out immediately, grabbing hold of the front of Shane’s shirt.

“No?” Shane asks, confused.

Ryan looks to his hand, he’s either going to regret this real bad, or it’s going to go fine. Because you know what? _Fuck_ fate.

 

He gets onto his tiptoes, and kisses Shane. It’s hot and it’s needy and it’s such a long time coming. It tastes terribly like alcohol, but that doesn’t matter. He’s kissing his best friend, he’s kissing the person he’s loved for so long. And it feels _good_.

They only stop to breathe, and start panting. Ryan then rests his forehead on Shane’s chest. “I- I love you too.”

“Oh my fucking God, Ry.” Shane starts laughing, which makes Ryan laugh. And they’re both wheezing at the side of the road, letting it all out. Shane’s arms are wrapped around him again, and it’s the best he’s ever felt.

He reaches his hand up to place on Shane’s cheek and pull him down for another kiss. But under the streetlamp, his eyes drift to his hand. Instead of the bright green he’s seen all his life, his jaw drops.

 

 

The string is red.

 

He grins, “I’m going to kiss you _so_ hard.”

And he does.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I certainly hope you enjoyed this fic! It would be appreciated if you could leave a kudos or a comment. Criticism is welcome! Tag recommendations especially since I'm still not that good at tagging stuff
> 
> I'd had this shelved for a long while until I was finally brave enough to post it here. I'm thinking of writing drabbles in this AU in the future, should I?


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